The Hatchet’s Editorial Board argued that course evaluations should be moved online and the results made available to students as they register for classes:
Read the full editorial here.
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Commentary from the opinions editors, op-ed columnists and The Hatchet's Editorial Board
- Editor: Patrick Rochelle
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May 21, 2012
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The only real problem with this idea of professor ratings is that GW does not offer enough sections of certain classes to be able to avoid less than desirable professors. Someone would still be stuck, so to speak, taking that professor who is deemed sub par. If in fact a professor is consistently rated low, what actual recourse do the students or the University have to improve or remove said professor? Just by the nature of the class, it may be hard to fill a teaching position. Sometimes it is a matter of having to take what one can get just to offer the class.
I believe you are right on target with such an idea; such feedback is valuable for students and professors alike. I caution the editorial board, however to proposed integration with the GWeb system – because whereas great ideas are never in deficit, such university systems are out-sourced and third-party coded in such a way that pluggable integration with such as system (no matter how desired or saught after), may not be possible. Such are the lamentations of IT directors and purchasing managers here at GW (and beyond) who find the cost of implementation and integration, the key to the success of such a system, abhorrent.
The Law School provides online access to all student course evaluations, and I’ve found it to be incredibly helpful (both in terms of choosing professors and planning a schedule with a manageable workload). The undergraduate school would do well to provide students with such service.
I believe that one of the most important things I have leanrned in college is how to deal with people that make me uncomfortable or push me to my limits. Last semester, I had a course with a crotchety old professor. He had been rated on Ratemyprofessor.com and the ratings were not favorable. A few people said “he’s a nasty, mean old man” and a few more said “he hates the world.” I took the class, anyway, because it was the only section offered. The professor appeared, at first, to be just as bad as everyone said, but I worked hard and tried my best to overcome my dislike for him. By the end of the semester, not only did I enjoy him, but I realized that I had learned some very important lessons about myself; lessons I wouldn’t have leanred in a class with a teacher whom I felt entirely comfortable with.
I don’t necessarily think that student evaluations hold as much value as they’re given. And I think that there are great lessons to be learned from encountering people who are difficult. The world is full of them…why shelter ourselves from that in college?
I think most students are rather superficial, as you said, but the good ratings are those that think about the pedagogy and move beyond simply nice or easy — it’s how well does a professor engage you, make the material relevant and interesting, care about the students and their understand, and create clear lessons and move the class past route into deep thinking. Atleast, that is the best or minimum we can ask for.